These 7 Mobile App Metrics Cannot Be Ignored by Nataliia Kharchenko

July 8, 2016

6 min read

Nataliia Kharchenko is a Marketing Copywriter at Cleveroad, a mobile and web development company that focuses on helping startups, small, and medium businesses create competitive and successful software. Being a part of the Cleveroad marketing team for already 5 years, she has been among those who forged customer relations via content marketing. Today, Natalia shares with us seven mobile metrics that you should track in order for your app to succeed.

Do you know what is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when creating an app? It’s to assume that deployment is the final stage of your mobile app’s development. But this is where you’re wrong. You need to make sure that you do everything in your power to make it the best once you’ve submitted your app to an app store.

You may ask yourself, “how do I know that I’m going in the right direction?” The first thing you should do is to start tracking your app metrics. With them, you’ll be able to find all the merits and flaws and adjust your future actions and plans. There are various mobile metrics available, but there are seven that are vital for tracking and cannot be ignored if you want your app to succeed.

Number of downloads

Tracking the number of app installs will help you analyze the changes over time as a result of outside factors such as advertising campaigns, press releases, app updates, etc. As a result, you’ll get a better understanding of what tools are converting more users.

To improve the number of downloads, pay attention to the advertising platforms. I suggest that you consider the following directions:

With their help, you can quickly spread the information about your app and attract users of all ages and interests. According to the latest data provided by Statista, impressive results are guaranteed.

Number of sessions

Tracking the number of sessions allow you to understand how important your app is for your users on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The optimum quantity may vary depending on the type of application. For example, active social networking users usually open an app several times a day, while for online shopping customers it is normal to launch an application every few days.

To improve the number of sessions, search for a problem within your app that may discourage a user from returning to the app. Take reasonable measures and see whether the relevant figure increases. Basing on the above examples, consider broadening the range of products or adding a fresh feature for customers’ entertainment.

Session length

Tracking the session length can help you find out what triggers a user to close your app. But be careful. Users can spend more time trying to figure out your app because of a poor UI or UX, rather than playing the game, making a purchase, or whatever else your app was designed to do.

To improve the session length, make adjustments to your UI/UX by following these recommendations of creating an effective app design.

Screenflow

Monitoring the screenflow will allow you to keep track of the user’s actions in your app, allowing you to identify any weaknesses in its design or functionality. You will be able to detect at which exactly stage a user decides to leave your app and take steps to solve the problem.

To improve your app, make sure that no confusion is experienced when interacting with it. If you notice that a bounce rate of a particular screen is too high, think of redesigning it. If the issue affects all the screens in equal parts, it is worth to completely redo the design of the application. Of course, this last one is not easy, so don’t run straight to this solution unless you know for certain a whole redesign is necessary to drastically improve your app.

Retention

Retention will allow you to detect your target audience, giving you the type of information you need in order to understand what makes a user return to your app. This figure is very important as, according to Bain & Company studies, a probability of turning an existing customer into steady one is between 60 to 70 percent, and an increase in profit of 95 percent can be achieved by raising the index of retention by 5 percent.

To improve the retention, pay a close attention to the interests of your target audience. The easiest way to find out what your app lacks is to ask the users about it. People like to know their opinion is important.

Session interval

Session intervals help you to understand out how often a user opens your app. The figure is determined by the time from when your app was first opened to the next time it’s opened again.

Not only do short intervals point out to the user’s’ interest, but they also show some form of addiction towards your app. A good example is social media. Take Facebook for instance. Some people may freak if Facebook’s app doesn’t open or work, as they rely on it for the latest news and status updates.

To improve the session interval, use push notifications to reel your users back into your app. According to Localytics, the users who keep push notifications enabled, launch an app three times more often than the ones who turn them off.

Lifetime Value (LTV)

LTV is an important metric for your mobile app because it shows not only how viable your product is, but also helps improve your ROI. The value of the last one is in direct relationship to a customer life cycle. The longer clients spend money on your app, the better the expenses are paid off.

There are various services available to help calculate LTV. Here are just a few of them:

Using metrics to make your app succeed

Remember, metrics work properly only when they are done together. Why? Because when you use only one, you won’t be able to see the entire picture. For example, the LTV value of $100 may seem great until you discover that the CPI equals to $200. What’s the point of receiving $100 from a client, if you spend twice as much to acquire them?

Use the given mobile metrics accurately, and don’t hurry to change the whole strategy just because of one metric. Analyze, test and try again.